Method of locking tape cassette housing of tape recorder

ABSTRACT

A locking device for a tape cassette housing of a tape recorder comprises a locking recess and a locking protrusion respectively provided in sides of a tape cassette housing and a deck chassis and corresponding to each other, thereby fastening a tape cassette housing to the deck chassis, the tape cassette housing resiliently coming into contact with the deck chassis as a tape cassette is loaded. In here, around external circumference of the locking protrusion is formed at least one edge, and an end of the edge comes into contact with a corner of the locking recess right before the locking protrusion is inserted into the locking recess. Accordingly, the locking protrusion comes into linear contact with the corner of the locking recess in loading/unloading operations of the tape cassette so that the stopping of the ascending and descending movements of the tape cassette housing is prevented during the loading/unloading operations of the tape cassette.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/670,345 entitled Locking Device for Tape Cassette Housing of TapeRecorder and filed on Sep. 26, 2003 now U.S Pat. No. 7,199,968, whichclaims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to an application entitled“Locking Device for Tape Cassette Housing of Tape Recorder” filed in theKorean Intellectual Property Office on Oct. 8, 2002, and assigned SerialNo. 2002-61325, the entire contents of both applications are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a tape recorder, and more particularly,to a locking device for locking a tape cassette housing, which comesinto resilient and close contact with a deck chassis as a tape cassetteis loaded into the deck chassis.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Generally, a tape recorder having a deck mechanism is an apparatus thatrecords/reproduces audio and/or video information on/from a magnetictape. Regarding this type of the tape recorder, common examples includea video tape recorder (VTR), a digital audio tape recorder (DAT), and acamcorder.

FIG. 1 shows a moving deck 100 of a camcorder. The camcorder is taken asone example of the tape recorder. As shown in FIG. 1, the moving deck100 includes a deck chassis 110, a tape cassette housing 120, and alocking device 190 for locking the tape cassette housing 120 onto thedeck chassis 110. In the case of the moving deck 100 which is usuallyemployed for the camcorder, the deck chassis 110 includes a main-chassis111 and a sub-chassis 112 that reciprocally slides on the main-chassis111 as a magnetic tape is loaded/unloaded.

The tape cassette housing 120 is for loading a tape cassette removably.First and second link members 160 and 170 hinged to both sides of thetape cassette housing 120 are slidably connected to the sub chassis 112,thereby allowing the tape cassette housing 120 to ascend and descendfrom and to the sub-chassis 112.

The locking device 190 includes a locking protrusion 195, a lockingrecess 197 corresponding to the locking protrusion 195, and a lockinglever 191 hinged to a side of the tape cassette housing 120. The lockinglever 191 is connected to the first link member 160 by a resilientmember 180. The locking protrusion 195 is generally shaped as a cylinderprotruding from a side of the locking lever 191. This locking protrusion195 is formed by drawing the side of the locking lever 191 or byproviding a separate rotatable roller member (not shown) on the sidesurface of the locking lever 191. The locking recess 197 is integrallyformed with the sub-chassis 112 by cutting a part of a side of the subchassis 112.

Hereinafter, the descriptions will be made about loading and unloadingoperations of the tape cassette of the tape recorder as constructedabove.

A loading operation of the tape cassette is performed as follows: thetape cassette housing 120 housing the tape cassette therein is pressedtoward the sub-chassis 112 and thus the locking protrusion 195 of thelocking lever 191 is inserted into the locking recess 197 as shown inFIG. 2. An unloading operation of the tape cassette is performed asfollows: an unlocking lever 117, pivotably disposed at the sub-chassis112, presses an unlocking protrusion 193 formed at an end of the lockinglever 191 in a direction so that the locking protrusion 195 is leasedfrom the locking recess 197. Simultaneously, the first and the secondlink members 160 and 170 pivot due to a recovery force of the resilientmember 180, and accordingly, the tape cassette housing 120 ascends in adirection in which the tape cassette housing 120 is separated from thesub-chassis.

However, it is often the case with conventional tape recorders that theascending/descending movement of the tape cassette housing is stoppedwith the locking protrusion 195 being blocked by an edge 197 a of thelocking recess 197 as the tape cassette is loaded/unloaded, as shown inFIG. 3. This stoppage occurs since the locking protrusion 195 and theedge 197 a of the locking recess 197 come into contact with each otherat a contact point where stress forces of the locking protrusion 195 andthe edge 197 a are exerted over each other in equilibrium. Stoppageoccurs more frequently as the contact time of the locking protrusion 195and the edge 197 a increases. Accordingly, there has been a demand forreducing the contact time between the locking protrusion 195 and theedge 197 a on the loading/unloading operations of the tape cassette.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been developed in order to solve the aboveproblems in the prior art. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentinvention is to provide a locking device for a tape cassette housing ofa tape recorder having an improved structure capable of preventingstopping of ascending and descending movements of the tape cassettehousing during loading/unloading operation of the tape cassette.

A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a moving deck ofa tape recorder which comprises a deck chassis, the deck chassiscomprising a main chassis and a sub-chassis. The moving deck furthercomprises a tape cassette housing and a locking device for the tapecassette housing of the tape recorder, wherein the locking devicecomprises a locking lever, the locking lever comprising a guide surface,and is adapted to pivot within a range determined by a regulatingprotrusion and a second hinge, and hinged to a side of the tape cassettehousing by a first hinge, and connected to a first link member by aresilient member, the resilient member adapted to allow the tapecassette housing to resiliently ascend and descend to and from asub-chassis. Further, the locking device comprises a locking recessformed within the locking lever and a locking protrusion, integrallyformed on a sub-chassis, adapted to be inserted into the locking recessso as to lock the tape cassette housing onto a sub-chassis in a closecontacting manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above aspects and features of the present invention become moreapparent by describing certain embodiments of the present invention withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a movingdeck of a conventional camcorder;

FIG. 2 is a side section view showing the tape cassette housing of FIG.1 being locked onto the deck chassis;

FIG. 3 is a side section view showing the tape cassette housing of FIG.1 seated on the deck chassis;

FIG. 4 is a side section view magnifying part of A of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a movingdeck according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a side section view showing the tape cassette housing of FIG.5 seated on the deck chassis;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view magnifying part of B of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a movingdeck according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a side section view showing the tape cassette housing of FIG.8 seated on the deck chassis; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view magnifying part of C of FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinbelow, various embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.Meanwhile, with respect to elements identical to those of theconventional tape recorder shown in and described through FIGS. 1through 4, like reference numerals are assigned, and the detaildescriptions thereof will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 5, a moving deck 100 of a tape recorder according toan embodiment of the present invention is shown and includes a deckchassis 110, a tape cassette housing 120, and a locking device 200 forthe tape cassette housing.

The deck chassis 110 includes a main-chassis 111 and a sub-chassis 112.On the main-chassis 111 are provided a loading motor 130 and acapstan-driving unit 140, and on the sub-chassis 112 is provided a pairof reel tables 150.

The tape cassette housing 120 removably houses a tape cassette (notshown). First and second link members 160 and 170, pivotably disposed atboth sides of the tape cassette housing 120, are slidably mounted on thesub-chassis 112, so that the tape cassette housing 120 can ascend from,and descend to, the sub-chassis 112. Each of the first link members 160is hinged to the tape cassette housing 120 using a first hinge 163.Respective upper ends of the first link members 160 are connected toeach other via a connecting member 165. Each of the first link members160 is provided with a first guide rail 161, disposed at a lower endthereof. The first guide rail 161 is slidably connected to a first guideprotrusion 115 of the sub-chassis 112. The second link members 170 arehinged to the first link members 160 using second hinges 173. Each ofthe second link members 170 has a mounting protrusion 125 formed at alower end thereof to be inserted into a mounting opening 113 of thesub-chassis 112. Upper ends of the second link members 170 are providedwith second guide rails 171 into which second guide protrusions 121protruding from both sides of the tape cassette housing 120 areinserted. In one embodiment, it is preferred that the second hinges 173protrude from the second link member 170 to a predetermined height,though other configurations can be implemented, and the descriptionthereof will be made below.

The locking device 200 includes a locking protrusion 220, a lockinglever 210, and a locking recess 230. The locking protrusion 220 isintegrally formed with the sub-chassis 112 and has at least one edge 220a. The formation of the edge 220 a is achieved by forming the lockingprotrusion 220 with a non-circular traverse section. In this embodiment,the locking protrusion 220 is formed by cutting and bending at or about90° a part of the sub-chassis 112 toward the inside of the sub chassis112. Accordingly, the edges 220 a are formed at both sides of thelocking protrusion 220. As described above, when forming the lockingprotrusion 220 integrally with the sub-chassis 112, the relativelycomplicated drawing process for the conventional locking lever 191(described in reference to FIG. 1), or installation of a separate rollermember (not shown) is not required. In one embodiment of the invention,the locking protrusion 220 is formed in a shape so that a corner 230A ofthe locking recess 230 comes into contact with the edge 220 a rightbefore the locking protrusion 220 is inserted to the locking recess 230in the loading operation of the tape cassette. Other shapes of lockingprotrusion 220 can be used in accordance with other embodiments of theinvention.

The locking lever 210 is hinged to a side of the tape cassette housing120 using a third hinge 212. The upper end of the locking lever 210 isconnected to one of the first link members 160 by a resilient member180. Due to the resilient member 180, the tape cassette housing 120 iscapable of resiliently ascending and descending for the close contactingwith, and separation from, the sub-chassis 112. One side of the lockinglever 210 is provided with the locking recess 230 into which the lockingprotrusion 220 is inserted so as to lock the tape cassette housing 120onto the sub-chassis 112 in a close contacting manner. The corner 230 aof the locking recess 230 is connected to a guide surface 217 extendingfrom the lower end of the locking lever 210. The locking lever 210pivots within a range that is determined by a regulating protrusion 127,protruding from a side of the tape cassette housing 120, and a secondhinge 173, protruding from the second link member 170 to a predeterminedheight. Accordingly, excessive pivoting movement of the locking lever210 due to the recovery force of the resilient lever 210 can beprevented. Meanwhile, an unlocking protrusion 213 protrudes from a lowerend of the locking lever 210. The unlocking protrusion 213 comes intocontact with an end of the unlocking lever 117, pivotably disposed onthe sub-chassis 112, when the tape cassette housing 120 is locked.Operation of the unlocking protrusion 213 will be described below.

Hereinafter, loading/unloading operations of the tape cassette housingas constructed above according to various embodiments of the presentinvention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A loading operation of the tape cassette is performed by pressing anupper surface of the tape cassette housing 120 toward the deck chassis110. Accordingly, the second link members 170 pivot along the secondguide protrusions 121 in a direction in which the lower end of the firstlink members 160 ascends. Since the first guide protrusions 115 of thesub-chassis 112 are slidably connected to the first guide rails 161 ofthe lower ends of the first link member 160, the interactive movement ofthe first and the second link members 160 and 170 allows the tapecassette housing 120 to closely contact the sub-chassis 112.

When the tape cassette housing 120 descends in close contact with thesub-chassis 112 as described above, the guide surface 217 of the lockinglever 210 comes into contact with the edge 220 a formed at a side of thelocking protrusion 220 and having an angled end as shown in FIG. 6. Inthis state, the descending movement of the tape cassette housing 120continues so that the edge 220 a of the locking protrusion 220 is guidedtoward the locking recess 230 and comes into contact with the corner 230a of the locking recess 230 (i.e. a boundary between the guide surface217 and the locking recess 230). Since the guide surface 217 isinclined, the locking lever 210 pivots on the third hinge 212 in adirection of the arrow of FIG. 6, so that there occurs a recovery forcein the resilient member 180. Accordingly, when the tape cassette housing120 completely contacts the sub-chassis 112, the locking lever 210pivots in an opposite direction to the arrow direction of FIG. 6, due tothe recovery force of the resilient member 180 so that the lockingprotrusion 220 is inserted into the locking recess 230. At this point,the edge 220 a and the corner 230 a come into linear contact with eachother as shown in FIG. 7. The linear contact reduces both contactingspace and time. Accordingly, a “dead” point at which the conventionaltape cassette housing 120 stops its movement can be prevented.

Meanwhile, when the user selects the ejection of the tape cassette, anunlocking switch 135 is operated so that a rod 135 a disposed in a sideof the unlocking switch 135 protrudes by more than a predetermineddistance. Due to the operation of the unlocking switch 135, theunlocking lever 117 pivotably disposed at the sub-chassis 112 pivots topress the unlocking protrusion 213 protruding from the end of thelocking lever 210 in a direction in which the locking protrusion 220 isreleased from the locking recess 230. The unlocking protrusion 213 ispressed by the unlocking lever 117 to thus pivot the locking lever 210in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 6 and accordingly, the lockingprotrusion 220 is released from the locking process 230. After that, dueto the recovery force of the resilient member 180, the tape cassettehousing 120 automatically ascends. Simultaneously, the locking lever 210pivots until its pivotal movement is limited by the regulatingprotrusion 127, so that the unloading operation of the tape cassette iscompleted.

The locking device 200 of the tape cassette housing 120 as constructedand operated above is limited to the embodiment described above. If theedge 220 a of the locking protrusion 220 contacts with the corner 230 aof the locking recess 230 in the loading/unloading operations of thetape cassette, the locking recess 230, the locking protrusion 220, andthe locking lever 210 can be varied in their installation positions andshapes.

FIGS. 8 to 10 are views showing a deck 100 for a tape recorder having atape cassette housing locking device 200′ according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. The tape cassette housing lockingdevice 200′ in this embodiment has the substantially same constructionas that of the above-described embodiment, except that a lockingprotrusion 220′ is modified in shape and there is no need for theinstallation of the unlocking lever 117 (described in reference to FIG.5), because an unlocking protrusion 213′ comes into contact directlywith the unlocking switch 135 as the tape cassette housing 120 islocked.

The locking protrusion 220′ differs from the locking protrusion 220 ofthe above-described embodiment in that a side end of the lockingprotrusion 220′ is bent inward at or about 90° toward the deck 100 to beinserted into a locking recess 230′.

As described above, modifying the bending portion and bending directionof the locking protrusion 220′, prevents errors in combining the lockingprotrusion 220′ and the locking recess 230′. These errors are caused bythe deformation of the upper portion of the locking protrusion 210 thatoccurs by the frequent contact of the locking recess 230 and the lockingprotrusion 210.

The elements and operations of the deck 100 are identical to that of theabove-described embodiment, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

Also, although the descriptions of the various embodiments of theinvention have been limited to the camcorder employing the moving deck100, the various embodiments of the present invention can be applied toany type tape recorder. This includes, for example, a video taperecorder (VTR), if it employs the tape cassette housing 120 resilientlycontacting to, and separating from, the deck chassis 110. even in theabsence of the moving deck 100.

According to the various embodiments of the present invention asdescribed above, the stopping of the ascending and descending movementsof the tape cassette housing 120 due to the interference between thelocking recess 230 and the locking protrusion 220 is prevented duringloading/unloading operations of the tape cassette.

The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and arenot to be construed as limiting the present invention. The presentteaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Thedescription of the various embodiments of the present invention isintended to be illustrative, and not meant to limit the scope of theclaims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will beapparent to those skilled in the art. In the claims, means-plus-functionclauses are intended to cover the structures described herein asperforming the recited function and not only structural equivalents butalso equivalent structures.

1. A method of locking a tape cassette housing of tape cassette,comprising: pressing an upper surface of the tape cassette housingdescendly towards a deck chassis; pivoting a second link member along asecond guide protrusion in a direction in which a lower end of a firstlink member ascends; slidably connecting a first guide protrusion of thedeck chassis to a first guide rail of a lower end of a first linkmember, wherein the first and the second link members interactivelymove, allowing the tape cassette housing to closely contact the deckchassis, whereupon a guide surface of a locking lever slides along anedge formed at a side of a locking protrusion until the edge comes intoclose contact with a locking recess of the locking lever; pivoting thelocking lever about a first hinge such that a resilient member attachedto the locking lever is expanded; and locking the tape cassette housingwhen the resilient member recovers as the tape cassette housingsubstantially contacts the deck chassis inserting the locking protrusioninto the locking recess.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the lockinglever has an unlocking protrusion; and the deck chassis includes anunlocking switch and an unlocking lever.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising sliding the unlocking switch to pivot the unlockinglever to engage the unlocking protrusion; rotating the locking lever byengaging the unlocking protrusion with the unlocking lever, andreleasing the locking protrusion from the locking recess to unlock thetape cassette housing from a locked condition.
 4. The method of claim 3,further comprising pivoting the locking lever within a range determinedby a regulating protrusion connected to the tape cassette housing and asecond hinge connected to the second link member.
 5. The method of claim4, further comprising hinging a first link member to tape cassettehousing with a third hinge.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprisingresiliently ascending and descending the tape cassette housing withinthe deck chassis with the resilient member connecting the locking leverto the first link member.